THIS MODULE IS TAUGHT IN FRENCH

The French labour movement is often seen as a disruptive force in French society, striking at the drop of a hat and attempting to hold governments to ransom through direct action for no other reason than the French like a good strike. This module aims to challenge these myths by examining the history of the French labour movement from the early nineteenth century to the present day. A history of worker insurrection and repression, and the troubled relationship between workers and the republic are considered as the background to the formation of working class political parties and trade unions. The radical beginnings and separate development of the political and industrial wings of the labour movement are then examined before the impact of World War One is analysed as the catalyst for the creation of the modern French labour movement, split between communist and reformist elements. The weak integration of the labour movement into French capitalism during the long post-war boom, culminating in the May 68 strike wave, is then the focus of attention before trade union decline since the 1970s - under the impact of economic, political and social change - is analysed. The module concludes with an examination of different theoretical approaches to, and explanations for, the development of the French labour movement. The emphasis throughout is on how a better understanding of the history of the labour movement can enable a more informed appreciation of its present state and actions.

At the end of this module, students should be able to:

• Show understanding of and ability to apply the main concepts associated with the French labour movement.

• Demonstrate a capacity to critically evaluate the development of the French labour movement since the nineteenth century to the present day.
• Use appropriate registers and grammatically correct language when communicating knowledge and understanding of the course material.
• Show ability to participate in argument and discussion with regard to the main features of and changes in the French labour movement.
• Locate the main features of and changes in the French labour movement within wider social, economic and political change.

There will be lectures and seminars totalling 28 hours, including in-depth revision classes at the end of the Semester, all of which are obligatory.

Lectures will highlight important background and contextual material and main trends, and this material will feed into seminar discussions that will probe more deeply and analytically into the preceding lecture topic. Students are required to make one or two seminar presentations, in which they will have to justify their views and argue their case under criticism from their peers. All students are expected to prepare for all tutorials with guidance and critical feedback on performance.

• Lectures will develop the student’s capacity to absorb information, including through note-taking.
• Seminars will develop the capacity to deploy this information and to integrate it with new information to produce well-constructed arguments orally and to defend points of view, both through seminar presentations and subsequent student-led discussion
• Through seminar presentations and the coursework essay students will practice and develop research skills and the capacity to deploy information in well-constructed arguments
• Coursework essays will enable students to practise and develop written presentation and work processing skills
• Coursework essays will enable students to develop their knowledge of French industrial relations and its main developments since the late nineteenth century

Through both coursework essay and examination students will to demonstrate their knowledge of French industrial relations and its main developments since the late nineteenth century using well-constructed arguments

Essay of 2000 words (30%)at end of Autumn Semester: choice of essay titles

Two-hour written Exam in Autumn Semester Exam Period (70%)

Week 1

Introduction to the course

Lecture: What do we mean by the French Labour Movement?

Lecture: French workers and protest 1800-1870

Week 2

Lecture: The Paris Commune and the Third Republic

Lecture: Labour politics and the Third Republic 1871-1914

Lecture: The origins of trade unions

Week 3

Seminar: Why were artisans at the forefront of industrial and political struggle in the nineteenth century in France?

Lecture: Anarcho-syndicalism

Lecture: The decline of revolutionary syndicalism and CGT division

Week 4

Seminar: Why did French unions opt for a revolutionary strategy?

Seminar: In what ways does the period from 1914 to 1920 represent a turning point for French labour?

Lecture: The Popular Front

Week 5

Seminar: Why wasn’t the Popular Front government more revolutionary?

Lecture: The post-war boom: attempts to integrate labour into French capitalism

Lecture: How successful, or meaningful, were attempts to integrate the labour movement into French capitalism in the post-war period?

Week 6  READING WEEK

Week 7

Seminar: Was there a ‘Fordist compromise’ in France?

Lecture: The May 68 strike wave

Lecture: The consequences of May 68

Week 8

Seminar: To what extent was May 68 a failed revolution?          

Lecture: The 1970s: economic change

Lecture: Unions, crisis and globalisation

Week 9

Seminar: How did the end of ‘Fordism’ affect trade unions?

Lecture: Interpreting the French labour movement: theoretical considerations

Roundtable: The history, present and future of the French labour movement: continued division, contestation and weakness?

Week 10

Essay drop-in sessions

Week 11

Revision

Indicative Reading and Resource List:

General and introductory works on French labour and unions

Capdevielle, J. and Mouriaux, R. (1973) Les syndicats ouvriers en France, Armand Collin, Paris.

Goetschy, J. and Jobert, A. (1993) "Industrial relations in France", in G. Bamber and R.

Lansbury (eds.), International and Comparative Industrial Relations, 2nd Ed., Routledge, London.

Goetschy, J. and Rozenblatt, P. (1993) "France: the industrial relations system at a turning

point?", in A. Ferner and R. Hyman (eds.), Industrial Relations in the New

Europe, Blackwell, Oxford.

Goetschy, J. (1998) ‘France: The Limits of Reform’ in A. Ferner and R. Hyman (eds) Changing Industrial Relations, Blackwell, Oxford.

Jacquier, J-P. (1998) Les clés du social en France: manuel d’initiation sociale, Editions

                        Liaisons, Paris.

Jeffreys, S. (2003) Liberté Egalité and Franternité at Work: Changing French Employment Relations and Management, Palgrave, Basingstoke.

Karila-Cohen, P. and Wilfert, B. (1998) Leçon d'histoire sur le syndicalisme en France.

Paris: Presses universitaires de France.

Landier, H. and Labbé, D. (1998) Les organisations syndicales en France: des origines aux difficultés actuelles, Editions Liaisons, Paris.

Lane, C. (1989) Management and Labour in Europe, Edward Elgar, Aldershot.

Milner, S. (1995) "France" in S. Berger and D. Broughton (eds), The Force of Labour: The Western European Labour Movement and the Working Class in the Twentieth Century, Oxford, Berg, pp. 211-244.

Mouriaux, R. (1983) Les syndicats dans la société francaise, PFNSP, Paris.

Noblecourt, M. (1990) Les syndicats en questions, Editions Ouvrières, Paris.

Pruvost, G. and Roger, P. (1995) L’histoire inachevée de l'unité syndicale, Editions de

                        l'Atelier, Paris.

Reynaud, J-D. (1975) Les syndicats en France, Tome 1, Editions du Seuil, Paris.

van Ruysseveldt, J. and Visser, J. (1996) ‘Contestation and State Intervention

Forever? Industrial Relataions in France’ in J. van Ruysseveldt and J. Visser (eds) Industrial Relations in Europe: Traditions and Transitions, London, Sage.

Verret, M. (1995) Chevilles ouvrières, Editions de l’Atelier/Editions ouvrières, Paris.

Willard, C. (1995) La France ouvrière (3 vols.), Editions de l’Atelier, Paris.

The French working class and protest in the nineteenth century

Charle, C. (1994) Social history of France in the nineteenth century, Oxford: Berg.

Magraw, R. (1987) France 1815-1914: the bourgeois century, London, Fontana.

Magraw, R. (1992) A history of the French working class vol. 1: The age of artisan

revolution, 1815-1871, Oxford, UK; Cambridge, Mass., Blackwell.

Magraw, R. (1992) A history of the French working class vol. 2: Workers and the bourgeois

republic, Oxford, UK; Cambridge, Mass., Blackwell.

Magraw, R. (2002) France, 1800-1914: a social history, London, Longman.

Willard, C. (ed.) (1995) La France ouvrière Tome 1 : des origines à 1920, Editions de

                      l’Atelier, Paris.

Anarcho-syndicalism, trade unions and labour politics pre-World War Two

Bodin, L. and Touchard, J. (1985) Front populaire, 1936, Paris: A. Colin

Jackson, J. (1988) The Popular Front in France: defending democracy, 1934-1938:

Cambridge University Press, 1988

Jennings, J. (1990) Syndicalism in France: a study of ideas, Macmillan, London.

Julliard, J. (1988) Autonomie ouvrière, Gallimard-Le Seuil, Paris.

Kergoat, J. (1990) "France", in M. Van der Linden and J. Rojahn (eds), The Formation of

Labour Movements, 1870-1914: an International Perspective, Leiden,    E.J. Brill, 163-90.

Lefranc, G. (1965) Histoire du Front populaire, Payot, Paris.

Magraw, R. (1989) "Socialism, Syndicalism and French Labour", in D. Geary (ed.), Labour and Socialist Movements in Europe Before 1914, Oxford, Berg, pp. 48-100.

Magraw, R, (1990) "France", in S. Salter and J. Stevenson (eds), The Working Class and

Politics in Europe and America, 1929-1945, London, Longman, pp. 62-98.

Magraw, R. (1992) A History of the French Working Class, Vol. 2: Workers and the

                        Bourgeois Republic, Blackwell, Oxford.

Milner, S. (2002), ‘France in Historical Perspective: The Impossibility of Partnership’, in S.

Berger and H. Compston (eds), Policy Concertation and Social Partnership in Western Europe: Lessons for the 21^st Century. New York and Oxford: Berghahn Books, pp. 97-110.

Moss, B. (1976) The Origins of the French Labour Movement: the socialism of skilled

                        workers, 1830-1914, Berkeley.

Rocker, R. (1989) Anarcho-syndicalism, Pluto Press, London.

Ridley, F. (1970) Revolutionary Syndicalism in France, Cambridge University Press.

Stearns, P. (1971) Revolutionary syndicalism and French labor : a cause without rebels

New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press.

Tartakowsky, D. (1996) Le Front populaire: la vie est a nous! Gallimard, Paris.

Torigian, M. (1999) Every factory a fortress: the French labor movement in the age of Ford

                        and Hitler, Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press.

Vandervort, B. (1996) Victor Griffuelhes and French Syndicalism, 1855-1922, Louisiana State University Press.

Willard, C. (ed.) (1995) La France ouvrière Tome 2 : 1920-1968, Editions de l’Atelier, Paris.

Wolikow, S, (1996) Le Front populaire en France, Editions complexes, Paris.

Trade unions and labour in the trente glorieuses

Barjonet, A. (1970) ‘CGT 1968: subjectivism to the rescue of the Status quo’, in C.

Posner (ed.) Reflections on the Revolution in France, Harmondsworth: Penguin.

Boual, J.-L. (ed.) (1995) Syndicalisme, quel second siècle? Paris : Editions de

l'Atelier/Editions ouvrières.

Boyer, R. (ed.) (1988) The Search for labour Market Flexibility. The European Economies in

            Transition, Oxford, Clarendon.

Bridgford, J. (1982) "The Integration of Trade Union Confederations into the Social and

Political System", in P. Cerny (ed.) Social Movement and Protest in France, London, Pinter.

Bridgford, J. (1989) ‘The events of May: consequences for industrial relations in

France’, in D. L. Hanley and A. P. Kerr (eds), May ’68: coming of age, Basingstoke: Macmillan, pp. 100-16.

Capdevielle, J. and Mouriaux, R. (1988), ‘Mai 1968: La dernière des grèves générales’, Politis, 5 May, reproduced in J. Forbes, and N. Hewlett, (1994), Contemporary France: Essays and texts on politics, economics and society. Harlow: Longman, pp. 71-76.

Hewlett, N. (1998) Modern French Politics: Analysing conflict and Consensus since                      1945, Cambridge: Polity Press, Ch. 7.

Howell, C. (1992) Regulating Labor: the State and Industrial Relations Reform in

                        Postwar France, Princeton: Princeton University Press, Ch. 3.

Howell, C. (1992) Regulating Labor: The State and Industrial Relations Reform in Postwar France, Princeton University Press.

Gobille, B. (2011) ‘Exploitation, Alienation and the Social Division of Labour in the May-

June Movement in France’, in J. Jackson, A.-L. Milne and J. S. Williams (eds), May 68: Rethinking France’s Last Revolution, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 34-46.

Gorz, A. (1970) ‘What are the Lessons of the May Events?, in C. Posner (ed.)

Reflections on the Revolution in France, Harmondsworth: Penguin, pp. 251-65.

Jeanson, A. (1970) ‘The CFDT and the May/June crisis’, in C. Posner (ed.)

Reflections on the Revolution in France, Harmondsworth: Penguin, pp.154-53.

Labbé, D. (1994) "Trade Unionism in France since the Second World War", West European Politics, Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 146-68.

Lange, P., Ross, G. and Vannicelli (1982) Unions, Change and Crisis: French and Italian

Union Strategy and the Political Economy, 1945-1980, Allen and Unwin,

London.

Milner, S. (2002), ‘France in Historical Perspective: The Impossibility of Partnership’, in S.

Berger and H. Compston (eds), Policy Concertation and Social Partnership in Western Europe: Lessons for the 21^st Century. New York and Oxford: Berghahn Books, pp. 97-110.

Mouriaux, R. (1989) ‘Trade union strategies after May 68’, in D. L. Hanley and A.

P. Kerr (eds), May ’68: coming of age, Basingstoke: Macmillan, pp.117-38.

Mouriaux, R. (1994) Le syndicalisme en France depuis 1945, La Decouverte, Paris.

Parodi, M., Langevin, P. Oppenheim, J-P. and Richez-Battesti, N. (2000) La question sociale

                        en France depuis 1945, Paris, Armand Colin.

Mouriaux, R. (1991) 'Trade Unions, Unemployment and Regulation, 1962-1989', in J.

Hollifield and G. Ross (eds), Searching for the New France, Routledge, New York and London, pp. 173-192.

Oppenheim, J.-P. (2000), ‘Après Mai 68: la quête d’un nouveau modèle de relations sociales

adapté à une économie ouverte’, in M. Parodi, P. Langevin, J.-P. Oppenheim and N. Richez-Battesti, La question sociale en France depuis 1945. Paris: Armand Colin, pp. 40-81.

Parsons, N. (2003) ‘May 1968: workers against the Republic?’ in C. Gorrara and R. Langford (eds.), France since the Revolution: texts and contexts, Arnold, London, pp. 108-120.

Parsons, N. (2005) French Industrial Relations in the New World Economy, London Routledge.

Reader, K. (1993) The May 1968 events in France: reproductions and

                        interpretations, Basingstoke: Macmillan, Chs. 1-3.

Rohan, M. (1988) Paris ’68: graffiti, poems, newspapers and posters of the events of

                        May 1968, London: Impact.

Schain, M. A. (1980) 'Corporatism and Industrial Relations in France' in P. G. Cerny and

M.A. Schain (eds) French Politics and Public Policy, Frances Pinter, London, pp.191-217.

Seale, P. and McConville, M. (1968) French Revolution 1968, Penguin:

                        Harmondsworth.

Seidman, M. (2004) The Imaginary Revolution, New York: Berghahn Books.

Tchobanian, R. (1995) ‘France: From Conflict to Social Dialogue’ in J. Rogers and W. Streek

(eds), Works Councils: Consultation, Representation and Cooperation in Industrial Relations, Chicago and London, University of Chicago Press, pp. 115-152.

Vigna, X. (2007) L'insubordination ouvrière dans les années 68 : essai d'histoire politique

                        des usines, Rennes: Presses universitaires de Rennes.

Vigna, X. (2011) ‘Beyond Tradition: The strikes of May-June 1968’, in J. Jackson, A.-L.

Milne and J. S. Williams (eds), May 68: Rethinking France’s Last Revolution, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 47-57.

Visser, J. (2000) ‘France’, in B. Ebbinghaus ans J. Visser (eds) Trade Unions in Western

                        Europe since 1945, London, Macmillan Reference.

Trade unions and labour since the 1970s

Andolfatto D. and Labbé, D. (2006) ‘La transformation des syndicats français: vers un nouveau “modéle social”?, Revue française de science politique, vol. 56, no. 2, pp. 281 -297.

Bridgford, J and Morris, P. (1987) 'Labour confederations and Socialist govemment in France, 1981-1986' in W. Brierley (ed.) Trade Unions and the Economic Crisis of the 1990s, Gower, Aldershot, pp.46-63.

Daley, A. ‘The Hollowing Out of French Unions: Politics and Industrial Relations after 1981 in France’,  in A. Martin and G. Ross (eds) The Brave New World of European Labour: European Trade Unionism at eh Millennium, Berghahn, New York and Oxford.

Eyraud, F. and Tchobanian, R. (1985) "The Auroux Reforms and Company Level Industrial Relations in France", British Journal of lndustrial Relations, 23, pp.241-258.

Gallie, D. (1985) 'Les lois Auroux: the reform of French industrial relations?' in H. Machin and V. Wright (eds) Economic Policy and Policy-making under the Mitterrand Presidency, 1981-1984, pp.205-24.

Goetschy, J. and Linhart, D. (1990) La crise des syndicats en Europe occidentale, La

                        Documentation francaise, Paris.

Groux, G. (1989) "French Industrial relations", in J. Howorth and G. Ross (eds)

                        Contemporary France, Vol 3, Pinter, London, pp.52-70.

Groux, G. and Mouriaux, M. (1990) "Le cas francais", in G. Bibes and R. Mouriaux (eds) Les syndicats européens à l'épreuve, PFNSP, Paris.

Groux, G. (1994) "Industrial Relations in France: Union Crisis and the 'French Exception", Journal of Area Studies, 5, pp.80-90. Photocopy collection.

Groux, G. and Mouriaux, R. (1996) "The Dilemma of Unions without Members", in A. Daley (ed), The Mitterrand Era, London, Macmillan.

Groux, G. (1996) "From the Cold War to the Present Day; Labour Unions and the Crisis of 'Models"', in T. Chafer & B. Jenkins (eds) France: From the Cold War to the New World Order, London, Macmillan.

Howell C. (1996) "French Socialism and the Transformation of Industrial Relations", in A. Daley (ed) The Mitterrand Era, London, Macmillan.

Howell, C. (2009) ‘The Transformation of French Industrial relations: Labor representation and the State in a Post-Dirigiste Era’, Politics and Society, Vol. 37, No. 2, pp. 229-56.

Jeffreys, S (1996) "Down But Not Out, French Unions after Chirac" Work, Employment and Society, Vol 10, No. 3, pp.509-527.

Kesselman, M. (1989) "The New Shape of Labour and Industrial Relations", in P. Godt (ed.), Policymakng in France from de Gaulle to Mitterrand, Pinter, London, pp. 165-175.

Milner, S. (1998) 'Industrial Relations in France: Towards a New Social Pact? in M. Maclean (ed.) The Mitterrand Years: Legacy and Evaluation, Macmillan London, pp. 169-184.

Milner, S. (2001), ‘Globalisation and employment in France: between flexibility and protection?’, Modern and Contemporary France, Vol. 9, No. 3 (special issue on ‘France and Globalisation’), 327-337.

Moss, B. (1988) "Industrial Law Reform in an Era of Retreat: The Auroux Laws in France", Work, Employment and Society, 2, 3, pp.317-334.

Parsons, N. (2005) French Industrial Relations in the New World Economy, London Routledge.

Potel, J-Y. (1990) "France: la lutte fractricide", in G. Bibes and R. Mouriaux (eds) Les

                        syndicats européens à l'épreuve, PFNSP, Paris.

Rhodes. M. (1987) "Labour and industry", in S. Mazey and M. Newman (eds.), Mitterrand's France, Croom Helm, London, pp.56-80.

Ross, G. (1987) 'Labour and the Left in Power: Commissions, Omissions and Unintended

Consequences', in P. McCarthy (ed.) The French Socialists in Power 1981­1986, Greenwood Press, NY, Westport, Conneticut and London, pp. 107-28.

Segrestin, D. (1990) "Recent Changes in France", in G. Baglioni and C. Couch (eds.),

European Industrial Relations: The Challenge of Flexibility, Sage, London.

Smith, W. R. (1987) Crisis in the French Labour Movement, Macmillan London.

Wilson, F. (1985) 'Trade Unions and Economic Policy' in H. Machin and V. Wright (eds)

Economic Policy and Policy-making under the Mitterrand Presidency, 1981-­1984, pp.205-24.

Works on individual trade unions

Dreyfus, M. (1995) Histoire de la CGT, Questions au XXe Siècle, Paris

Groux, G. and Mouriaux, R. (1989) La CFDT, Economica, Paris.

Groux, G. and Mouriaux, R. (1992) La CGT: crises et alternatives, Economica, Paris.

Linet, R. (1995) CGT: lendemains de guerre, 1944-4 7, Hachette, Paris.

Maire, E. (1 975) La CFDT aujourdhui, Seul, Paris.

Mouriaux, R. (1982) La CGT, Economica, Paris.

Pasteur, P. (1994) Christian trade unionism in Europe since 1968, Avebury, Aldershot.

Pigenet, M. (2006) ‘Force ouvrière: une forteresse incontournable’, Mouvements, 2006/1, No.

                         43, pp. 47 -52.

Ross, G. (1982) Workers and Communists in France: from Popular Front to

            Eurocommunism, UCP, Berkeley.